Frontier withdrawing from TTN?
 

I have seen the conversation touched upon in other threads - but it seems a shame that with the relationship Frontier has developed in Trenton now there is significant downsizing going on. And it is a bit ironic as their competition is at PHL or EWR and there's a rather large population swath in between that has to travel farther. IMHO the biggest headwind they face is the skimpy nature of offerings... the once a day nature of many routes - combined with the lack of any public infrastructure to connect to the rails. I understand that is a lot to hope for and financially unfeasible in so many cases.

Now that there's talk of Spirit buying out Frontier, could it be that Frontier is reducing routes that would be candidates for elimination with Spirit.

I see TTN-RDU becomes "seasonal" i.e. not running at the start of January, most others too...I can't recall TTN-RDU going black since the runway work sabbatical.

To me it's apparent F9 is pulling out of TTN. Am I missing something?

I don't see Frontier selling for a while, they have added a lot of value already and it will only get better if they can achieve a positive image.

Trenton (TTN)
Becomes "Seasonal" starting 12/17/15
Tampa

Becomes "Seasonal" Starting 1/4/16
Atlanta, Chicago, Charlotte, Detroit, Raliegh/Durham, St Augustine

Leaving the following routes at TTN which operate daily starting 1/5/16:
Orlando (2X DAILY), Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Myers, West Palm Beach

Philadelphia (PHL)
Becomes "Seasonal" starting 1/4/16
Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Houston

Leaving the following routes at PHL Which operate daily Starting 1/5/16
Cancun, Ft. Myers, Miami, Orlando, Tampa
(Denver starts 3/17/16)

So it looks like they are cutting back all over the place. Maybe this allows a 2nd airline at TTN rather than being the one horse town it is now.

Maybe TNN is a failed experiment. Frontier is not shy about pulling out of routes that don't met expectations.

Kind of humorous Tampa going dark aka "Seasonal" at the start of the... er.... tourist season. They are obviously looking at the books and pulling out the cleaver but they are also diminishing their east coast gains by turning Trenton solely into limited winter getaways.

Just seems given the population density and the hassles that come with the larger airports 50 miles north and 40 miles south that there is a sizable niche that could be served successfully. It wouldn't surprise me if F9's transition to an ULCC has had a negative impact on those expectations...

No doubt the ULCC move has hurt them. Larger cities are going to have more passengers to get a combo of the one and done (never fly again) and the savings is more important crowd. However while TTN has a good size catchment it might not be big enough in that segment. Also TTN doesn't have the transit connections to make it a viable route for someone wanting to go to Downtown Philly or NYC

It seems to me that in setting up Florida only routes, F9 is setting up TTN for a merger. They now use TTN in a manner similar to the way that G4(?) uses ACY - leisure flights to Florida.

Push comes to shove, if they leave completely (which I doubt), I venture that Allegiant would come in. This would not clash with their ABE operation.

As for legacy carriers, the only one without a nearby hub is DL. I think a couple of E-170/175 of CRJ 700 flights daily to DTW (similar to what they do at SWF, which has a less populated catchment area, and also has B6) would be a logical next move.

Exactly who else would move in? United is at EWR. American is at PHL and JFK. Although Delta is hubbed at both at JFK and LGA, they probably have enough coverage at both EWR and PHL. Spirit is at ACY, so I can't see them doing anything out of TTN (though I couldn't guess what might happen IF Spirit buys Frontier).

So who is left? Southwest? Allegiant? One of the small Regional or Commuter carriers like Silver or PennAir? If they think Frontier couldn't make TTN work in the long-term, why would they move in?

It seems a lot of what has happened in the Northeast (ILG and IAD; plus, it seems, TTN) hasn't met the current owners' expectations.

TNN is now Spike TV.:cool:

Really, I don't think TTN is a failed experiment, but I think F9 is slowly leaning favor to PHL, as seen with TPA service. But F9 at PHL might just be a spoke and nothing significant either.

The biggest failed experiment within the last 2 years is IAD.

Frontier's owners are looking to IPO, over merger. Several of the decisions lately are to make the airline operate more profitably.

I believe we will see more MCO routes and likely summer seasonal increases at ORD. It seems to be still a big player in DEN, and LAS. It still has a hub in DEN, which might be attractive for another carrier in case F9 decides to merge with another carrier that is not an ULCC. Perhaps post IPO, it merges with JetBlue. Or it stays as an ULCC.

TTN's heyday likely passed. It will be interesting how F9 services it next year.

Delta and American serves SWF which has a similar catchment Delta to Detroit and AA to PHL.

From what I've read on boards like A.net frontier is returning some of its A319s to their leasing company and the A320 neos are delayed. Also the A321s are not coming in at a fast enough pace.

This is supported by the fact that F9 is doing the same cuts in Philly. unless of course you claim they are pulling out of there too.

According to PlaneSpotters.net Frontier has received 5 new 320s this year and has not retired any 319s since about 2006. That may not be completely up to date.

I heard earlier that Frontier was going to retire the 319s and replace them with newer bigger planes, but given the recent drop in fuel prices that may be put off. I'd expect the management to want to get as many planes in the air as possible while the legacies are all limiting capacity.

I'm disappointed seeing TTN-RDU become seasonal. Philadelphia is a long drive or train ride and RDU-PHL is almost never a cheap trip. However, F9 is very reliable on RDU-TTN and I'm going to miss having that option.

Well it could be them not being satisfied with TTN or them retiring some 319s. Guess we'll have to see which one in May.

Yeah that's going to suck for you, the only carriers on that route are American and Delta Connection not even Southwest does RDU-PHL. As I said this is likely due to the retirement of some of the a319CEOs. RDU was one of the first TTN cities to go daily, so I believe it was doing well. Hopefully it will be back in April and then for next winter